Dirigible headlight



Aug. 26, 924.

A. M. HAANSTAD DIRIGIBLE HEADLIGHT Filed O t, 30 1.922 2 Sheets-Sheet l LEQQZZE Aug, 26, 1924.

A. M. HAANSTAD DIRIGIBLE HEADLIGHT Filed Oct. 30, 1922 2 Sheets-Shem 2 Milli Patented Aug. 26, 1924.

ALFRED I. HAANSTAD, OF EAU CLAIRE, WISCONSIN.

DI'BIGIBLE HEADLIGHT.

Application filed October 80, 1922. Serial No. 597,877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Amman M. HAAns'rAn, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Eau Claire in the county of Eau' Claire 5 and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dirigible Headlights; and I do-hereby declare and exthat the following is a full, clear,

act description thereof.

This invention relates to automobile headlight construction and is particularly directed to a dirigible headlight.

In dirigible headlights, as heretofore constructed, difliculty has been experienced in properly illuminating the roadway or ath,

along which the car is actually trave mg,

with the result that dark areas exist in front of the machine which contribute materially to the dificulties of night driving.

This invention is designed to overcome the above difficulties and objects of such 1nvention are, therefore, to provide dirigible headlights for automobiles which properly illuminate all necessary portions of a roadway while a turn is being executed, which brightly illuminates the road immediately in front of the machine, which illuminate/s both the road which is being left and the road into which the machine is turning.

Further objects are to provide a dirigible headlight construction, which is sturdy, reliable in operationfand one in which no delicate or dificnltly produced parts are em loyed.

n embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figu rtion re 1 1s a side elevation of a of an automobile showing the dirigib e headlight in position.

Figure 2 is a front elevation, gartly in section, of the structure shown in igure 1.

Figure 3 is a plan view partly in section of the structure shown in Figure 1.

Figure 4 is an enlar d, sectional view through one of the diri ble head. light supports and the associa mechanism.

Figure 5 is a view of the mutilated gear for 0 rating the headlights.

Re errin more particularly to the drawings, it will be seen that the headlights are mounted upon opposite sides of the automobile and are supported from the side bars 1 thereof by means of brackets 2. These headlights are connected by suitable mechanism, hereinafter a be described, with the steering post 3 of the automobile so that the headlights are selectively operated from the steering post to turn inwardly the head light upon that side from which the machine is turning, that is to say upon the side most remote from the center about which the machine is being turned.

The headlights 4 are mounted by means of suitable trunnion members '5 within the forked frame 6. They are identical in construction and one will therefore be described in detail. This frame 6 is rigidly secured to the upper end of a shaft 7 which passes through the bracket 2,,the shaft being provided with an enlargement 8 upon which the frame 6 seats, if desired. The lower portion of the shaft, as may be seen from Figure 4, is carried within upper and lower bearings 9 and 10 formed in an extension 11 of the bracket 12, such bracket being secured to the under side of the side frame. This lower end of the shaft is loosely splined to a bevel gear 13, which is in mesh with a second bevel gear 14 rigidly mounted upon a short shaft 15. The brackets 12 and 16, see Figure 2, are substantially alike except for a laterally projecting arm 17 formed upon the bracket which is mounted upon the sideof the automobile adjacent the steering post. This laterally extending arm 17 is provided with bearings 18, 19, and 20, which respectively support a longitudinal shaft 21, a transverse shaft 22 for the right hand light, and the transverse shaft 15, previously described, for the left hand light.

The steering post bracket 23 has a forwardly extending arm 24 provided with a bearing 25 upon which a worm wheel 26 is mounted. This worm wheel meshes with a worm 27 formed upon the lower end of the steering post 3. Rigidly secured upon the worm wheel shaft is a bevel gear 28 which meshes with a corresponding bevel gear 29 gilgidly secured upon the longitudinal shaft The forward end of the longitudinal shaft 21 carries a mutilated gear 30, which, as may be seen from Figure 5, is provided with a plurality of teeth 31 and a flat surface 32, the fiat surface extending throughout a considerable portion of the gear. When the steering post is in its neuiz'alposition, that is, to say, when the machine is adapted to travel directly forwardly, the {gear 30 is so turned that the teeth 31 are located upon the up r side and substantially centrally theme a Upon the juxtaposed ends of the elmed shafts 15 end 22 e peir of bevel geum 33 end 342 ere rigidly secured and are positioned so as to mesh with the teeth 31 of the- 38 surroundin the sheft Z, beerin at its upper end sgemst the cup 39 secure to the bracket 2 and at its lower end upon an enlargcment 40 curried by the shaft 7 and integral with the cum member 36.

The 0 eration of the apparatus is as follows suming'thet the steering 0st 3 has been rotated in e counter-clockwise direction to efiect u left hand turn, as may be seen from the position of wheels 35 in Figure 3. Under these conditions shaft 21 is rotated so as to move the teeth 31 of the mutilated gear to the right, thereby engaging end roteting the car 33, This ro-- tubes the sheft 22 end tirough the bevel gears 14: and 13, which are similar for both headlights, the shaft 7 is given a part rotetion to cause the headlight carried thereby to be directed inwerdly. This causes the beam to be projected across the roadway and into the roadway into which the machine is turning. The reverse movement of the steering post obviously causes the other heedli ht to move while the headlight which ormerly moved is new stationary: It will be seen that the headlight upon the side of the vehicle closest to the center about which the machine is turning, remains in its fixed position and directs a beam forwardly of the machine,-

It will be clearly seen that the headlights prroiect intersecting beems which cross in out of the machine whenever the machine is bein turned It will also be seen that the bee iight most closely edjecent the turning pointof the machine directs a. beam forwardly and the one most remote from the point about which the turn is made diroots a beam an lurly in front of the machine and into t e roadway into which the machine is being turned, This peculiar arrangement of cooperati headli hts is such that the space immedi tely allied of the machine is brillientl illuminated and no dark areas exist A. o illumination is efforded both roadways at the instant of turning while the area, immediately in front of the automobile is also brilliantly noted: o

It will thus be seen "that dirigible headlights hnve been provided for eutomobiles, so organized that no dark areas are left in front of the machine while it is making a turn, It will also be seen that the mechanism employed is comparatively simple and is of very sturdy construction and not likely to. be easily damaged.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction, as for instance other means than that shown may be employed for the cam mechanism to hold and yieldingly' aid in returning the lights to their normal straight-ahead position. These are only a few of the many changes in structural details that obviousl might be resorted to without departing cm the spirit of the illumi- -invention, and it is therefore to be understood that the invention is to be limited only as set forth in the appended claims I claim 1., The combination of an automobile having a steering mechanism, a pair of spaced. headlights, a pair of alined shafts operatively connected to said headlights and having juxtaposed ends, a third shaft arranged at an angle to said first mentioned shafts,

means for operatively coupling said third shaft with the steering mechanism, a pair of ears carried by the juxtaposed ends of sail? first mentioned shafts, and a, mutilated gear carried by said third shaft and adapted to enga e either of said first mentioned gears, w ereby upon turning the automobile the light upon the side from which the automobile is turned is directly inwardly.

2. The combination of an automobile having a steering mechanism, a pair of spaced headlights, a pair of alined shafts opera tively connected to said headlights and having uxtaposed ends, a. third shaft arran ed at an angle to said first mentioned sha means for operativ'ely coupling said third shaft with the steering mechanism, a pair of cars carried by the juxtaposed ends of sai first mentioned shafts, a mutilated gear carried by said third shaft and ads ted to engage either of said first mentione gears, whereby upon turning the automobile the light upon the side from which the automobile 18 turned'is directed inwardly, and resiliently pressed cam means tending to retain the headlights in neutral position.

In" testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand at Eau Claire, in the county of Eau Claire and State of Wisconsin,

ALFRED M. HAANSTAD. 

